About Voices

Mission

Voices for Children advocates for abused and neglected children and youth in St. Louis by representing their best interests in court and in the community.

Vision

Every child lives in a safe, permanent home and has the opportunity to thrive.

Model of
Advocacy

While working toward a safe home with a forever family, Voices’ teams of child advocates—CASA volunteers, social work professionals and child advocacy attorneys—work on behalf of each child to expedite vital health, mental health and educational services.

Our child advocates give each child a strong voice in the critical decisions that impact every aspect of their lives.

The Need

Every day, judges, child welfare professionals and caregivers make decisions that affect children who, through no fault of their own, were removed from the care of their parents and brought into state custody.

These children, who have the most to gain or lose, have the least power in the decisions made by the court and the professionals who are responsible for their well-being.

Voices child advocates are the only people whose sole focus is the best interests of the child. Our advocates give our children a powerful voice in decisions about where they will live and go to school, whether and how often they can spend time with siblings and other relatives, how long they will be in state custody and where they go when they leave foster care.

Current Financial Reports

Today, there are over 1,500 St. Louis children in foster care. On any given day, Voices teams of child advocates represent nearly 600 of these children.

Does Voices for Children provide direct services?

Yes. Our CASA advocates and child advocacy professionals work one-on-one with children while they are in foster care providing direct legal and social advocacy services to meet their individual needs and goals.

Our child advocates directly impact the health, mental health, education, safety, stability, family connections and permanency of children ranging in age from newborn infants to older youth up to their 21st birthday.